Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is an annual one-day holiday to give thanks (traditionally to God), for the things one has at the close of the harvest season. On Thanksgiving Day, families and friends usually gather for a large meal or dinner.
I had the pleasure of being invited by Garin de Petra for a thanksgiving meal with his family. It was nice of him to do so, as this holiday meal is for family and close friends. I had mixed feelings about the entire affair primarily because it would be a big family I would have dinner with, and secondly because I had no idea what to take.
After discussing with my office colleagues and locals I decided Wine would be a good choice, given that it goes well with the thanksgiving meal, and something which is a rav
e in Minneapolis right now. The trip to the liquor store was fun too… Like it is with everything in USA, there were too many choices… All the wine bottles looked pretty and the shopkeeper confused me further explaining how white wine, which is not too dry, would go well with a thanksgiving meal and an Italian red wine would do well after the meal, as well as on a romantic setting… So confused, I decided to play it safe and told the shopkeeper to pack one of both.
Small chit chat and lots of chips in French sour cream / chilly dip later we finally went on to the lunch table where Garin’s father Tom said a small prayer, thanking lord for the food and all that they have and then the great meal started.
There was a turkey, which was given a long and patient bath in grease and fat during and after it was being baked in the oven. It was served along with a dressing made of bread, spices, turkey inners and lots of good stuff, since it looked really yummy. The side dishes included sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, American corn, and asparagus. The bread served along with the food was incredibly soft. I being a thorough foodie enjoyed the sumptuous treat thoroughly.
- High speed chases, look cool on TV but are tough, and the police officer is in the constant tension no to hit any innocent bystanders!
- They have Taser guns which subdue a person by firing something which administers electric shock, disrupting superficial muscle functions. Apparently huge guys, who are being aggressive, once administered with this Taser, cry like little girls and become very tame. It is not harmful, even on those having a pace-maker in their bodies!
- Like in India, even in US – the compensation for the police officers for the kind of risk they take every day, it just does not match up.
- They do apprehend a lot of defaulters on their each round and read their rights – You have right to remain silent, anything that you say can and will be used against you in the court of law! It is not just for the movies.
- Police does not like F B I (it is not just in movies) They do think F B I has a lot of educated lawyers who try to apply book knowledge in solving crime
- Cops don’t actually love donuts any more than normal Americans… It’s a cliché.
Amused, and pleasantly surprised to see so much exposure to US police and their way of working, Craig did invite me for a ride along in the back of his car, on any day that I want to… though I’d need to sign a declaration that Hopkins police and the state would not be liable for anything that were to happen to me during the ride along, and I do understand that it can get dangerous… I’d surely love to do it, if it works out…
Silence…
Quickly I added, well, what I also mean to say is that US economy, being the worlds biggest is closely watched, and here we see trillions of dollars going in this war, when the same if fruitfully invested in developmental investment would trigger off a boom in US economy which would have a trickle down benefit to the world economy, so we just feel it’s a lot of money getting wasted unproductively, and could be put to better use… and really, it’s the hard working tax payers money getting used for someone else’s cause…
Bull’s eye… I successfully used the US sentiment about their tax money, to wiggle out of an uncomfortable corner… They all totally agreed and were like… you know what – we think the same…
Craig did have another view point though, he said, “The amount of charity that USA is involved in, the amount of aid and help that it extends to all and sundry, it is really not fair that why there would be this world hatred against them!” He paused and then, “Why do you think Prashant, that is the case?” I paused and then again gave a politically correct answer? “Well, Craig – good work always goes unnoticed, take the example of US Police… the good work that you do to make the citizens safe, never gets any coverage – but one mistake that any of you do under pressure would get blown out of proportion by media, that’s just the way our world is…” and there I was… Second bull’s eye in a row! So morale of the story – be politically correct in expressing your views and give examples that the other person can relate to… The other person will listen to you then.
Totally overeaten, we all lazed around and the other family members updated each other on what they had been up to. Garin’s younger sister Trisha, along with her boy friend had three thanksgiving lunches to attend… and this was only their second… so it was a busy day for her. She is going to do a course in hair styling, and is excited about the same. That is another remarkable thing about USA. There are no judgments; you can follow your patience… I can almost imagine what were to happen if I were to tell my parents, that I want to do masters in hair styling… and the picture ain’t pretty.
We played a lot with their small dog Greta, who was extremely playful and liked to gnaw on a sock and you could pull her across the room with that. She could actually jump high to try and catch that sock. It was fun. Finally they gave me a grand tour of their home, which was huge, like everything else in USA. They had two cars, a Hyundai Sonata and a Toyota Camry. I wished I could own either of them in India…
Hi Prashant..this is Kiran Vaka.
Good to see your blog!